Culture

Havana, Cuba, Dec 18.- Arturo O’Farril, pianist and director of New York’s Afro Latin Jazz orchestra spoke about the significance of the Cuban music in a lecture offered at the Mella Theater in Havana, as part of the ongoing Jazz Plaza Festival.

O’Farril, son of Cuban-born musician Chico O’Farrill, said Cuban music is special and that he is a defender of its flavor, swing and beat. He said it was very important for him to play in the land of his grandparents and his father, who was one of the greatest Cuban musicians of his time.

O’Farril said his work has been highly influenced by his Cuban roots and confessed that the trip to the island was like a debt with his father who always wanted to return to Cuba but couldn’t do so because of his frail health.

Invited to the 26th International Jazz Plaza Festival of Havana, Afro Latin Jazz has prepared a repertoire of songs mainly by Chico O’Farrill. The program also includes works by other important Cuban musicians like Mario Bauza and Francisco Raul Gutierrez (Machito).

The Orchestra will play for the first time “Fathers and Sons: From Havana to New York and Back,” accompanied by Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes. The song is dedicated to all families dedicated to keep Afro Latin jazz alive.

Arturo said in addition to playing jazz, the purpose of his trip to Cuba is to tell the world that jazz cannot be understood without taking into account the Cuban component that is part of its roots.

After their arrival in Cuba, members of Afro Latin Jazz visited the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory and gave a concert at the San Jose de las Lajas park in Havana province.

Santa Clara, Cuba, Dec 18.- The gown wore by Fidel Castro for his first self-defense was donated to Santa Clara's Museum of History by the Provincial Court House of Villa Clara on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the event.

Havana, Cuba, Dec 2.- Ballet Nacional de Cuba will be performing Nutcracker at the Hamilton Place Theatre in Ontario, Canada, on the days between December 9 and 12 in a season dedicated to the 90th birthday of Alicia Alonso.

Havana, Cuba, Dec 2.- The 32nd Latin American Film Festival of Havana begins on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. at the Karl Marx Theatre in the Cuban capital.
The event will be inaugurated with the premiere in Cuba of the Mexican film “Revolution”, which is a compilation of documentaries by 10 Mexican …

Another week of intense cultural activity starts; and it is starred by local and national artists who are going to perform on several stages of the city of Camagüey and of other provinces of the island country.

Camagüey, Cuba, Nov 23 – Works of the national and international repertoire will breathe new life into classic ballet on the stage of the Teatro Principal, which will welcome Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta on Tuesday.
Principal Guest Artist of the London-based Royal Ballet, Acosta will per…

By Miozotis Fabelo Pinares/ Collaborator.miozotis@rcagramonte.icrt.cu The news was published by Prensa Latina news agency: "for the second year running, Jaime López García had won the Golden Pen literary prize, which the Russian Union of Writers (RUW) convenes each year.
This Cuban translator w…

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 10.- Cuban ballet dancers Tamara Rojo, star of the Royal Ballet of London and Jose Manuel Carreño, principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, and Danza Contemporanea de Cuba are gearing up to perform the monumental production of "Carmina Burana" in Mexico.
The show, winne…